From the Bride… Ali and I were both pretty set on a few “MUSTS” while planning out wedding. We were NOT getting married in a ballroom. We were NOT ok with a curfew before 2am. The food and drinks had to be FABULOUS. And we had to be able to fit 160 of our nearest and dearest. Paige and Kelly were amazing at hearing us out and went over TONS of venue options with pros and cons and took us all the way from Malibu to Downtown LA. They alongside my father pushed us to lastly look at Hotel Bel Air (even though it consisted of a ballroom) before making any decisions. We walked through the hotel space and their vision and creativity and enthusiasm about the endless options the space provided us led us to lock it in. On that day, we actually felt like we could start envisioning our wedding day.

Ali and I really wanted to create a space where people would be comfortable and relaxed. Your wedding day consists of all the feels. So walking down an aisle looking at our cool, calm, collected and comfortable family and friends in a setting that felt like home with lounges and benches and arm chairs and side tables did just that. We went back and forth with beautiful renderings including the flowers and furniture and flooring which really made it all come to life. I think my favorite part of this other than marrying my husband was the gospel choir that came out and started singing as we recessed down the aisle.

Ali and I are both foodies and grew up in Los Angeles where dining is so delicious and wanted to make sure that everything from cocktails to dessert and everything in between was a great experience for our guests. The cocktail area had such a great vibe (from what I saw in pictures – it kinda stinks you miss this whole part of the evening) and the food was just enough to keep everyone happy before we went into the ballroom. We loved creating our custom cocktails with Pharmacie, the bar setups were so beautiful and the drinks were delicious. It was a whole experience we really wanted to share with everyone.

The ballroom at the HBA is such an incredible blank canvas and again, with Paige and Kelly providing endless ideas and renderings including the chairs and linens we liked and florals it all really came to life. We wanted to make sure that the flowers didn’t take over the night and that it was just to make the room pretty. They did just that. Not too many high pieces, but pieces you could see through and talk to the people sitting across from you. We had a mix of round and rectangle tables and it filled the room nicely and squeezed everyone in perfectly. The dance floor was just the right size, not too big and not too small and it was ALWAYS full thanks to the music from Elan.